Apple, Samsung Fend Off Low-Cost Chinese Rivals

The rise of low-cost Chinese smartphone makers may have accelerated the decline of some established players like Nokia Corp. But so far, it has done little to challenge the duopoly of Samsung Electronics Co. and Apple Inc.

Apple CEO Tim Cook

Reuters

The latest world-wide smartphone market data from research firm Strategy Analytics showed that Samsung and Apple together held a 48.6% share in the third quarter, little changed from 48.5% in the third quarter a year earlier.

While the two giants continue to dominate the market, the ranking among smaller players keeps changing almost every quarter. In the third quarter, China’s Huawei Technologies Co. was the “star performer,” according to Strategy Analytics. Huawei came in third with a 5.1% market share, as its shipment jumped 67% to 12.7 million units. A year earlier, Huawei’s market share was 4.4%.

Huawei’s growth reflects China’s increasing weight in the global market. The country has already overtaken the U.S. as the world’s largest smartphone market. In China, Samsung and Apple face fierce competition from several major domestic players including Huawei, Lenovo Group Ltd. and Xiaomi Inc.

Huawei, the world’s second-largest supplier of telecommunications network gear after Sweden’s Ericsson, has been ramping up marketing to expand its consumer handset business. Still, despite its strength in the Chinese market, “Huawei will need to expand aggressively in the American and European markets if it wants to seriously challenge the big two of Samsung and Apple next year,” said Strategy Analytics senior analyst Woody Oh.

Behind Huawei, South Korea’s LG Electronics Inc. came fourth with a 4.8% share, followed by Lenovo with a 4.3% share, according to Strategy Analytics.

In the quarter, Samsung’s share increased a bit, while Apple’s share fell a little. Samsung held 35.2% of the market in the quarter through September, up from 32.9% a year earlier, as its shipment rose 55% to 88.4 million units. Apple’s share fell to 13.4% from 15.6%, but its iPhone shipment for the quarter rose 26% to 33.8 million units, as the company’s earnings announcement also showed earlier.